THUNDER BAY – Karlee Everist says she’s honoured to be named the most sportsmanlike player at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
She was also taken a bit by surprise.
Everist, who was born and raised in Thunder Bay, but moved to Halifax for school, where she works as a pharmacist at the Izaak Walton Killam Health Centre, is playing second this week for Team Nova Scotia in Thunder Bay, a team that will take on Krista McCarville’s Thunder Bay rink on Friday afternoon to open the Scotties playoffs.
“It means a lot,” said Everist, the daughter of local golfing legend Trevor Jones, who will be on hand at Fort William Gardens to watch her live in person for the first time this week, each team allowed up to 12 people in the stands under Curling Canada’s slightly relaxed spectator policy.
“I was very surprised to find out I was awarded this award. Typically it’s voted on by the players, but because of the bubble this year and the two pools not crossing, it was voted on by the on-ice officials, the ice crew and the TSN crew. Just to know that I was recognized for my sportsmanlike conduct and by the people around me means a lot because I love the game of curling so much.”
It’s easy to get lost in the moment, when the games get intense, but Everist said she always tries to stay calm, cool and collected, treating others with kindness even in the heart of the battle.
“Just being able to be myself is really nice,” she said.
That all in, at her heart Everist is a competitor, which shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Her father was a top local amateur golfer for two decades or more, winning the Strathcona Invitational five times between 1985 and 1994.
Being able to have her mom and dad in the stands on Friday, even though most of the crowd will likely be rooting for Team Northern Ontario, is fantastic.
“It’s very special,” Everist said.
“The week has been amazing. Eat, sleep, curl is basically the name of the game. It’s just been amazing to play in the Scotties and an extra bonus to be in Thunder Bay, amazing to be in the Fort William Gardens. It’s such a cool place with so much history and it’s just been a pleasure to play in that stadium, for sure."
Nova Scotia went 5-3 during round-robin play and secured second place in Pool B by virtue of beating both the Northwest Territories and Manitoba, the other two teams posting 5-3 records.
Everist said it’s been a great week on the ice too.
“We’re obviously very happy. Our goal coming into the Scotties was to make the playoffs, so we’ve accomplished our goal. We’re very happy we’ve put ourselves in this position. This is a very difficult position to get in and one that we’re not taking for granted,” she said. “It takes a lot of hard work to get to this spot."
They took the good with the bad and are still in contention, which is just about all Team Nova Scotia could ask for when the week began.
“You’re not going to go undefeated, unless you’re Team Canada,” Everist said, chuckling. “You kind of have to break it up into chunks to know that you’re going to have some setbacks and how you’re going to come back from those,” she said.
“I think we overall really just managed the week really well from a mental perspective and we brought it on the ice. We’ve been playing very consistent. We’ve had some games where we’ve played exceptionally well, but being consistent throughout the week has given us more Ws than losses and set us up for this position we’re in now.”
